Dixon blaze injures two firefighters, burns two abandoned buildings

A firefighter with the Dixon Fire Department makes an attack on one of two abandoned structures that caught fire Friday morning. Crews from Dixon, Vacaville, Davis and Rio Vista battled the two-alarm blaze that destroyed both buildings. Two Dixon firefighters were transported to a local hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Joel Rosenbaum — The Reporter

A Solano County Sheriff’s deputy walks to his patrol car to man a command post at the scene of a two-alarm structure fire south of Midway Road in rural Dixon. The cause of the Friday blaze is under investigation.
Joel Rosenbaum — The Reporter

Flames engulfed a vacant, abandoned dwelling early Friday in rural Dixon, razing it, scorching another and injuring two Dixon firefighters.

The firefighters were transported to an area hospital for treatment of heat exhaustion, Division Chief Dean Sarley said.

Events unfolded around 9:40 a.m. at a house on Highway 113 just south of Dixon.

“When we got here, flames were coming out of every orifice,” Sarley recalled.

Where now stood piles of grayish ash, two pairs of cement stairs and a brick chimney once held an 1,800 square foot home.

“No one was living here,” advised Sarley, “but there’s still power to it. Likely for all the farm machines.”

The property is owned by a conglomerate, he explained, which is installing orchards in the area.

Fire crews from Dixon, Vacaville, Davis, Rio Vista and Montezuma were on hand to snuff the blaze, multiple hose streams crossing each other to extinguish smoldering embers.

A car also appeared to be damaged.

A weathered home that had definitely seen better days bore strong black smears, evidence of flame damage, but was nonetheless still standing.

The home that had been in front of it had appeared in similar condition.

The cause of the blaze was not known at press time, though Sarley said it was definitely suspicious.

“The Sheriff’s Office has been here before with squatters, running them off the property,” he said.

Damage estimates also were unavailable.

As temperatures rose into the 100s, firefighters changed into lighter gear, took breaks and drank lots of water, Sarley said.